November 2015

Hello all! I wanted to share an update on what I've been up to. I'm excited to announce a first-look production of Sell/Buy/Date at New York Live Arts! This run, which is being produced in association with Manhattan Theatre Club, will be just 12 performances. You can get tickets here!

In Your Face New York at St. Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn, NY. Sunday, October 25th.

I had SO much fun hosting Martin Sage’s "In Your Face New York" October 25th at St. Ann's Warehouse’s beautiful new space in Brooklyn. If you missed it, I shared the stage with many others--no, not just the characters, actual other people, wildly talented actors, writers, singers and musicians--a podcast will be available here soon!

Elizabeth Gilbert at Brooklyn Academy of Music in association with Greenlight Bookstore, September 24th.

The New York Times best selling author and my friend, Elizabeth Gilbert read from her inspired and inspiring new book, Big Magic at BAM on September 24th. I (and a few of my friends!) had the pleasure of moderating the discussion with her following her reading. Hear the podcast of our conversation here!

Sell/Buy/Date Sneak-Peek at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, September 30th, 2015

Thank you for making the first staged reading of the completed Sell/Buy/Date script such a success. As if performing for a packed house at the Danny Kaye Playhouse weren't thrilling enough, the talk-back with Gloria Steinem was so AH-mazing Bella had to grab a quick selfie.

Road Warrior New Yorker Article, October 19th, 2015 Issue

Journalist Jane Kramer wrote a wonderful piece on the incomparable Gloria Steinem and her ongoing work. The piece features many of Gloria's feminist friends-- I was honored to be included and mentioned in connection with Sell/Buy/Date.

July 2015 Update

Hi Everyone, Happy Summer! Since my last update, I’ve had an exciting few months of research and writing for my upcoming play, Sell/Buy/Date. As many of you know, this is my first full-length play since Bridge & Tunnel, and I'm beyond excited to share it with you. I'd also like to tell you about an upcoming performance in New York on August 7th.

Summerstage, East River State Park: Friday, August 7^th

In conjunction with the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and Summerstage, I will be performing live at East River State Park on Friday, August 7th. I am looking forward to my first public performance for New York audiences this year, especially as a long time fan of Summerstage myself. The performance is also free! For more information, please click here .

TED Talk of Sell/Buy/Date Excerpt is Now Live!

A few months ago, I attended the annual TED conference in Vancouver and shared an excerpt of my work in progressSell/Buy/Date script. The talk is now live on TED. Watch it here .

United Nations Performance

I had the honor of performing Women Can’t Wait! at the United Nations in March as a part of the Beijing +20 Conference. In partnership with Equality Now and with an introduction by the incomparable Jane Fonda, the event highlighted laws that discriminate against women around the world. Watch the video here.

Sell/Buy/Date European Research Trip in London, Amsterdam, and Berlin

I spent a productive and informative research trip for Sell/Buy/Date in London, Berlin, and Amsterdam meeting with organizations and individuals who are working with and/or directly impacted by commercial sexual exploitation and the sex industry. Many thanks to everyone who took the time to meet with me. Here are a few bonus tourist photos:

  

Long Time, No Update!

Hi everyone, Long time, no update. Happy 2015! Hope your New Year is off to a great start.

I’ve had a lot of personal challenges the past few months and have been hard at work on finishing Sell/Buy/Date, my first new evening-length play since Bridge & Tunnel. I wanted to catch up and share what I’ve been up to since you heard from me last, and where I’m headed.

But first, a HUGE thank you! The Sell/Buy/Date workshops at the Nuyorican Poets Café last Fall were so helpful to my writing process—I appreciate all you friends, family and supporters who joined me.

In keeping with my goal of trying untested material as though I’m in my own living room (but with more space and without my having to clean up after everybody goes home J) I’ve continued to bring a few characters and elements from Sell/Buy/Date to select audiences as the final piece develops. Many thanks to Pamela Shifman and the Novo Foundation for its major support of my process, to dramaturg Antonia Grilikhes-Lasky for her great work, and to the TED organizers and community, as well as Creative Time for being part of the Sell/Buy/Date living room! Next up,

World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Switzerland

My characters will be taking the stage to share their perspectives on this breathtakingly challenging (and potentially transformative) moment in global history for the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos next week. It's a gathering of many of the world's politicians, business leaders, academics...and Ms. Lady will likely be the sole representative of the homeless community. But she's promised to keep an open mind, and I'm looking forward to joining other participating artists (including Angelique Kidjo, Will i Am and Pharrell Williams) for an exciting week.

But first, a look back—besides working on my play I also got the chance to perform, host, or otherwise share ideas and stages with artists and organizations I admire throughout last year. Here are a few highlights…

Ciudad de Las Ideas in Puebla

I traveled to Puebla, Mexico to participate in La Ciudad de las Ideas (The City of Ideas), an annual festival that gathers, artists, scientists, inventors and thinkers from around the world to share ideas and spark conversations. My characters decided it was a great time to improv… in Spanish, and I was nerviosa, but it turned out to be una idea muy buena. Thanks fellow participant David Kwong for the audience shot!

NPR's TED Radio Hour

I also participated in TED Radio Hour, NPR’s weekly podcast based on well-received TED talks (aww, thanks TEDizens, nice to be well-received!).  I sat down with Guy Raz to talk about stereotypes, celebrating cultures, and the line between those two. In case you missed it, you can hear my segment here:

http://www.npr.org/2014/11/14/362366569/what-s-the-line-between-stereotyping-celebrating-culture

New York's New Abolitionists

I had the honor of being included in New York’s New Abolitionists, a photographic campaign against human trafficking shot by renowned photographer Lynn Savarese. To learn more (and see the photos of my fellow participants, who range from Tina Fey to playwright Lynn Nottage to activist Taina Bien-Aime and filmmaker Byron Hurt) and join this fight to end human trafficking I hope you'll check out the campaign.

Caring Across Generations at the Apollo

I had the multi-generational pleasure of hosting the finale concert of Caring Across Generations’ ThrowbackSummer series in honor of Grandparents Day. Along with special guest Esperanza Spalding and acclaimed dancer Lil Buck, the characters and I joined people of all ages at the Apollo Theater. Lorraine Levine really enjoyed being part of the target demographic, and kvelled to be with such talented youngsters. (Thanks to Caring Across Generations co-director Ai-jen Poo and retroactive shout out for her MacArthur Genius Award!)

Sarah Performs at Keds Brave Life Summit

This August, Sarah participated in the Keds Brave Life Summit in New York City, partnered by the Girls Leadership Institute and Seventeen magazine. Sarah shared with the young women who attended what it means to be everyday brave, why social media doesn't define you, and how to listen to yourself and bravely follow your own path to happiness and fulfillment.

Sarah Takes the Mainstage at TED 2014

For her second TED talk, Sarah brought out a myriad of her characters to discuss the future on stage, answering impromptu questions supplied by the TED2014 audience.  Watch the talk here:

Sarah Heads to London, Glasgow, Dublin and Stockholm to Research for her Upcoming Commission for the Novo Foundation

The Novo Foundation is teaming up with Sarah to create a unique performance piece that tackles the incredibly difficult issues of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. Sarah spent the first month of 2014 in the UK, Ireland and Sweden, meeting with activists, academics, non profit organizations and writers to get the bigger picture on how these issues are viewed and handled throughout Europe.

First up on the trip was London, where we met with the amazing women from Eaves. We learned about their tireless work helping women who want to exit prostitution. We also met with Maddy Coy and Heather Cole, who helped us understand the wider-held beliefs in the UK about prostitution and the current schism occurring within feminism over this hotly debated issue. Finally we met up with old friends at the Equality Now office in London who were able to put non profit work, policy and general public opinion all into greater perspective.

       

Then we headed to Glasgow where we met with the Women's Support Project and TARA. We were shown exactly just how widespread prostitution is in Scotland, how women are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation, including prostitution, and the different methods of support that are offered to the women they see.

We then headed to Dublin where we were fortunate enough to meet with the folks at Ruhama and later have tea with author and activist Rachel Moran. We learned more about how the 'pro-sex lobby' or pro-prostitution lobby has come to effect policy that can sometimes cause more harm than good, even if well intentioned. We were also blown away by the work and writing of Rachel Moran and encourage everyone to read her book 'Paid For'.

Finally, we made our way to Stockholm, to find out first hand how the Nordic model has managed to clamp down on johns and pimps, while not penalizing the women, instead offering the women support and opportunities to exit prostitution if they choose. This approach not only helps survivors, it also supports a change of the cultural climate of domination and purchase of women's bodies for sex.

We met with the people behind RealStars.Eu, who showed us how they create public campaigns to encourage young men to think before they 'buy women' and to help promote a healthy and holistic images of women in the media.

We also met with author and researcher Kajsa Ekis Ekman. Her book, 'Being and Being Bought', goes into detail about how the buying of women's bodies for prostitution and for surrogacy, is not in fact, empowering.

       

We then visited the office of the Swedish Women's Lobby and were inspired by how many women's groups and lobbies there are not only in Sweden, but all over Europe. They all work together to help make the lives of the women in the EU better and safe from trafficking. What is the US women's lobby equivalent? Sarah is hopeful that there can be a coalition of women's groups (and the men who support them) here with the kind of political power that will move us away from violence and objectification and closer to equality (like something better than 18% women in Congress. C'mon USA, 18% isn't a passing grade for...anything!) For Sarah's still optimistic, but she's is  also planning to work on her Swedish and hang out over there a little more often.  :-)

On our last work day, Sarah met with many bloggers, including the women from Feministiskt Perspektiv, the premiere Feminist blog in Sweden, and Kawa Zolfagary, a writer and activist, who promotes looking at race and gender issues in Sweden by using humor.

   

At long last, we headed home, with Sarah happily trying out all the new accents she found on our journeys and eager to continue writing a show that will aim to tackle these challenging issues with the dignity, respect, and yes, even a sense of humor. She is excited to have the chance to premiere this show in the beginning of 2015, so check back for updates!

Sarah Spends Her Summer in Residence at The MacDowell Colony and The Civitella Ranieri Foundation

This past summer Sarah was fortunate enough to spend time writing and mingling with fellow artists for her second time at The MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire and for her first time at The Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Umbria, Italy.  

Sarah was hard at work on her new piece on sex trafficking, commissioned by the Novo Foundation. You can look for more info coming at the end of 2014.

Sarah Returns to The White House for Women's History Month

President and First Lady Obama invited Sarah to perform at the White House for a second time to celebrate Women's History Month. The day was filled with seminars and lectures from amazing women who for the past 50 years have led this country in the fields of science, activism and art, and by doing so, fought tirelessly for women's rights. The day culminated with a program in the East Room and a kickoff performance by Sarah. Following her performance, The POTUS and FLOTUS took the stage to discuss their continued interest in helping women achieve equality.

Sarah Performs for Sadie Nash Benefit

 

Sadie Nash is an organization that for the past ten years has connected motivated and talented high school girls with prestigious NYC based internships, and helps support this extracurricular work. At our office, we have had several Sadie Nash interns who have gone on to become leaders at their schools and in their communities.

To celebrate Sadie Nash and all their Nashers, Sarah performed a short piece, recognizing each of the Ten Unstoppable Sadie Nashers and their incredible achievements.

Click here to learn more about The Unstoppables, Sadie Nash and their 10th anniversary benefit (which also featured none other than Emmy Award winning writer, actress and producer Tina Fey!)

Sarah Emcees Equality Now's 20th Anniversary

 

For their 20th anniversary, Equality Now celebrated two decades fighting to end violence and discrimination against women and girls worldwide with a huge bash featuring many supporters including Vanessa Redgrave, Laura Linney, Joss Whedon and music by Natalie Merchant.

Sarah was honored to Emcee this momentous occasion and used the opportunity to have her characters speak about the powerful impact Equality Now has had on women and girls' lives around the world.

It was an incredible celebration of an organization that has been near and dear to Sarah's heart for years, and she is looking forward to another twenty years of their extraordinary work--unless of course violence against girls and women is eradicated sooner--nothing would be better than for this work to become obsolete...

Video: Neil Gaiman Teaches Rashid How to Pick Up Women With an English Accent

Welcome to Videos from the Vault--performances of past work Sarah is bringing out from her archives. Back in 2011, Sarah experimented with recording some informal performances with the help of her friends. And this time, friends didn't just mean the people she invents and inhabits.  

For a month long impromptu and improv-ed run of shows at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in NYC, Sarah performed familiar characters, introduced some new ones, and then had them interview celebrity guests. In the video below, watch as Neil Gaiman instructs Sarah's character Rashid on a few key phrases (which Rashid believes will help him become more popular with the ladies). You can watch more of Sarah's characters and their interviews with celebrity guests (including Rosario Dawson, Gloria Steinem and more) on her video page.

Sarah Hosts the Clinton Global Citizen Awards

As part of this year's Clinton Global Initiative, Sarah and her characters hosted the Clinton Global Citizen Awards, joining an array of award-winners and presenters including Sting and Trudie Styler, Barbra Streisand, and President Clinton himself. Learn more about the honorees and the work of CGI here.

Commemorating September 11 on Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen

Sarah and her characters collaborated on a special piece for Studio 360's 9/11 tribute. You can listen to the whole show here, and Sarah's part here.

Summer at the MacDowell Colony

From July through September Sarah nurtured her creative process surrounded by inspired and inspiring fellow artists and staff at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire. Among the highlights of the summer was Medal Day during which iconic playwright Edward Albee was honored, and Sarah even gave a public performance in her normally secluded cabin during the special open studios event where artists invite the public into their work space and process.

Sarah Meets with Survivors of Sexual Exploitation

In May, Sarah traveled with fellow feminist activists and authors Gloria Steinem, Professor Hyun Kyung-Chung and Amy Richards to South Korea. Sarah met with eminent feminist scholars who discussed the history of the so-called Comfort Women as well as women who have helped these survivors spread the word about what they survived at the hands of the Japanese Army during World War II. Sarah attended the weekly demonstration held in front of the Japanese embassy demanding public recognition of the injustice done to the Survivors, or "Halmoni" (grandmothers). She also visited the House of Sharing and heard their courageous stories of survival in person. Sarah also met with younger activists and survivors tackling related issues of sexual exploitation and violence against women in the modern day context of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation (including what's commonly called prostitution).

Our Wonderful Intern Laura at the Gloria Awards

For six months we had the pleasure of working with one of the talented young women from the Sadie Nash Leadership Project. We are grateful Sadie Nasher Laura Lopez shared her skills with us, and hope she learned as much from the experience as we learned from her! In May, Laura accompanied Sarah to The Gloria Awards and even got a shout-out from Gloria herself!

Sarah Performs for a Special Gathering on Necker Island

Virgin Unite, the philanthropic organization supported by Sir Richard Branson, invited Sarah and her characters to perform on the theme of contemporary global issues for Sir Richard and a small gathering of philanthropists and scholars on Necker Island. Learn more about the work of Virgin Unite here.

Sarah Performs A Right to Care at the University of Michigan and is made an Honorary Visiting Professor

In March, Sarah went to Ann Arbor to perform A Right to Care, a piece commissioned by the WK Kellogg Foundation to address ethnic, racial, and economic health disparities in the US. At the end of her performance she was presented the Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez and Rosa Parks Visiting Professorship Award.

Sarah in the New York Times

Read about Sarah and her work in this New York Times article that examines part of her character development process.

New Year, Nuyorican!

Sarah's performing, plus special guests Gloria Steinem Jan 17th, Seth Godin Jan 18th, Sway of MTV Jan 23rd, Dj Rekha Jan 24th, Kurt Andersen of Studio 360 Feb 1st, environmentalist Majora Carter Feb 4th, novelist Nathan Englander Feb 7th, actor and activist Rosario Dawson Feb 11th, Def poet Beau Sia Feb 14th, author Neil Gaiman Feb 15th, and DJ Spooky Feb 28th!

More guests to be announced. Click image below for tickets. Please come early, we've been selling out and seats are first come, first served and there may be SRO for latecomers.

Back in November Sarah did a little "Giving Thanks"-themed evening at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe to show her appreciation for all your support since she started there. Sarah (and her characters!) loved hanging out with everyone so much that 'they' have added new dates in January and February (and are calling it "New Year, Nuyorican") to ring in 2011.

These performances will include some of the multicultural characters you'll know if you saw Bridge & Tunnel, and some characters brand new to the stage. There will be material in development, improv, plus intimate Q&A with the lovely audience! Special guests may stop by among other surprises: the show will change from night to night. General admission is $20. Student tickets available night of the show with student ID for $12. All shows begin at 8pm.

Happy New Year!

Details:

Every show at 8pm. Tickets $20 in advance and at the door $12 with student ID the day of the performance

Info: 212.505.8183 Tickets: 212.780.9386

14 performances: Monday, January 17 Tuesday, January 18 Friday, January 21 Sunday, January 23 Monday, January 24 Friday, January 28 Saturday, January 29 Tuesday, February 1 Friday, February 4 Monday, February 7 Friday, February 11 Monday, February 14 Tuesday, February 15 Monday, February 28